Privacy Commissioner of Canada

{{short description|Canadian government Privacy Agency}}

{{Use Canadian English|date=December 2018}}

{{Infobox official post

| post = Privacy Commissioner of Canada

| native_name = {{nobold|{{lang|fr|Commissaire à la protection de la vie privée du Canada}}}}

| insignia = Logo_of_the_Office_of_the_Privacy_Commissioner_of_Canada.png

| insigniasize = 200px

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| incumbent = Philippe Dufresne

| acting = no

| incumbentsince = June 27, 2022

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| abbreviation = OPC

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| reports_to = Parliament of Canada

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| appointer = Governor in Council

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| termlength = 7 years

| termlength_qualified = once renewable

| constituting_instrument = Privacy Act

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| first = Inger Hansen

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| salary = $314,100 (Equal to a Judge of the Federal Court of Canada)

| website = {{url|https://www.priv.gc.ca/}}

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| department = Office of the Privacy Commissioner

}}

{{Infobox government agency

| agency_name = Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada

| native_name = {{lang|fr|Commissariat à la protection de la vie privée du Canada}}

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| formed = 1977

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| headquarters = Gatineau, Quebec, Canada

| employees = 257https://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/ems-sgd/edb-bdd/index-eng.html#orgs/dept/256/infograph/financialGC Infobase only reports the combined FTE headcount for both the OPC and the Information Commissioner of Canada.

| budget = $39.7 million (2019)

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The privacy commissioner of Canada ({{langx|fr|Commissaire à la protection de la vie privée du Canada}}) is a non-partisan ombudsman and officer of the Parliament of Canada. The commissioner investigates complaints regarding violations of the federal Privacy Act, which deals with personal information held by the Government of Canada or the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), which deals with personal information held in federally regulated private sector industries. The commissioner reports to Parliament.

Philippe Dufresne has served as the ninth and current privacy commissioner of Canada since he was appointed on June 27, 2022.{{cite web |publisher=Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada|title=Announcement: Philippe Dufresne appointed Canada's new Privacy Commissioner |url=https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/opc-news/news-and-announcements/2022/an_220623/ |website=www.priv.gc.ca |date=June 23, 2022}}

The privacy commissioner has the authority to audit, publish information about personal information-handling practices in the public and private sector, conduct research into privacy issues and promote awareness and understanding of privacy issues from the public.{{Cite web|url=https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/about-the-opc/what-we-do/|title=What we do|publisher=Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada |date=December 14, 2018 |website=www.priv.gc.ca|access-date=April 19, 2019 }}

Since 1983, the privacy commissioner has been a seven-year Governor in Council appointment made after consultation with the leaders of every political party in the Senate and House of Commons, and after the approval of both chambers. Prior to the Privacy Act of 1983, which lays out the present role and appointment process of the office, the appointment was made by the minister of justice on the advice of the chief commissioner of the Canadian Human Rights Commission.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Officers of Parliament - Privacy Commissioners: 1977 to Date|url=https://lop.parl.ca/sites/ParlInfo/default/en_CA/Parliament/OfficersParliament/privacyCommissioner|archive-url=|archive-date=|accessdate=September 30, 2020|website=|publisher=Library of Parliament, Parliament of Canada}}

The privacy commissioner reports to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics.{{cite web|url=http://www.priv.gc.ca/parl/index_e.asp|title=Parliamentary Activities|publisher=Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada|accessdate=September 10, 2012}}